Saturday Writing Essential: Reflections of the Year 2011

Challenge: Using prose or poetry write anything (fiction, nonfiction or essay) about the year 2011

Looking back over this past year, I've seen my share of darkness, light, headaches, heartache, triumphs, failures, grandbabies, illness and forced relocation. The year, 2011 was a crazy year filled with many changes and remarkable transformation on every possible level.

I faced some major life changes, forcing me to dig deep within myself to heal old wounds, while I desperately struggled to find time to write my stories, which took me to an even deeper level to connect with my characters, without confusing them with myself. This madness was also very liberating.

I was able to do some spiritual housecleaning, purging myself of the negativity invading my life. We all have those irritating things we must face which attack us from every angle. These impositions present us with two choices: 1) become bitter, or 2) become better. Either way, the choice is ours alone, to make.

During the first quarter of the year, I battled the worst case of pneumonia, while taking care of my elderly mother, who is a Cancer patient and my grandson, who has Asperger's Disorder. Between taking care of my mother and taking my grandson to Speech and Occupational Therapy three days each week, I worked on the first book in my Trilogy, The Phoenix Three: No Greater Love.

In the Spring, I moved from the country to Salina Bay, while I continued writing every chance I could find. During the Summer, I battled even more challenges, as I continued with TP3: No Greater Love and began writing a new  novel, The S.L.U.T.'S. Memoires. Which is a fiction novel based on actual events of a Southern Lady Under Tremendous Stress rediscovering her faith and the inner strength she found to face false accusation and ugly rumors following the death of her beloved husband, while raising her children.

Come Fall, I welcomed a new granddaughter into the world. November added another year, more gray hair, wrinkles and weight to my rapidly increasing collection. My grandson, Joseph and I went to Chuck E Cheese two nights in a row to celebrate our birthdays, which are a week apart. After him persistently asking each day for more than a month when we were going back to Chuck E's house, we were forced to inform him that Chuck E is on vacation until further notice!

By December, I am ever so ready to say a polite, "Good Bye!" to the year 2011. However, while trying to sleep off a terrible migraine, A Piney Woods Christmas novella began screaming ever so loudly, demanding my full attention. I had no choice but to get out of bed and begin writing what I believed to be a very short story of maybe 2500 words. By New Year's Eve, on my daughter's 25th birthday, I published the ebook version on Smashwords.  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/118722

The book cover is a photo of rare snow at my former home in the Piney Woods, in January 2011. All in all, a very nice ending to a challenging year and a wonderful beginning to a New Year!

I learned many valuable lessons in the past year and the most important one of all is that no matter how many challenges we face, or how dark the storms seem there will be light eventually and if we stay the course, we can and will transform. Goodbye, 2011! I will remember you affectionately. Hello, 2012! Let's dance!